A Chance to Love
by TwiAddictAnne
Summary: A girl who hides behind the darkness. A boy who is determined to bring her into the light. A chance to make life beautiful. A chance to maybe … fall in love? Rated for language and adult situations.


**A Chance to Love**

 **Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. The author doesn't own any publicly recognizable characters.**

 **A/N: Hi, everyone! This is a one-shot I wrote for the Picture It Contest. It was inspired by a quote that said, "Give every day the chance to become the most beautiful of your life". A big squishy hug and lots of smooches for my fic-wifey, ShaeMaen, for beta reading this one for me.**

 **Happy reading!**

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 **A Chance to Love**

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Killing the engine of my Harley, I remove my helmet and take in the sight of my new home—The University of Washington laid out before my eyes in all its glory. The spread out campus and the busy parking lot makes me smile. _This is a new start_ , I tell myself. And then…something almost knocks me out of my seat—motorcycle and all.

"Hey, crow-head! Remove that head from your ass before attempting to ride that!"

I narrowly manage to stop myself from face-planting before turning to locate the source of the harsh words clearly aimed at me. Immediately, my eyes fall on the giant fire-red truck idling behind me and the scowling girl sitting on the driver's side.

"Are you deaf?" she calls out to me again.

Narrowing my eyes, I swing down from the bike to stand in front of her monstrosity of a truck.

"What did I do?" I ask, not realizing the reason behind the rather rude welcome to this new place.

"You parked your sorry ass in my space," she replies. "Go and make yourself scarce."

I take in a deep breath, ready to give her a good piece of my mind when a hand grasps my shoulder.

"Dude, shut the hell up," I am rudely advised. "If you value your balls that is."

 _Is there something in the water here that makes everyone so mean?_ , I wonder as I move my head to the side to see a bespectacled guy standing next to me.

"What?" I ask, moving my shoulder a little to jostle his unwelcome hand away.

He takes a step back to give me a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I should have introduced myself first. Just thought I should save you from being plastered on the parking lot before doing that. I'm Ben Cheney."

"Edward Cullen," I respond with a nod. "Who was that monster truck driver you were 'saving' me from?"

He snorts at my nickname for the angry girl. "That's Isabella Swan—mean girl and resident bitch for the current class of UDub. You need to go to the admin office, I believe?"

I take another look at the spot she has parked her truck on and with a shake of my head follow Ben to the administration office.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, I enter my last class for the day—Physics. I take in the empty spots left around the room and settle for the seat three rows behind the front. Just as I'm about to drop my backpack at the foot of the chair, a hand with a black and white shell bracelet appears in front of me.

"Think again."

Without even looking up, I know that it's the Monster Trucker.

By the time I pull my gaze up from her hand, she has plopped down on the seat and is smirking at me.

" _My_ seat, new guy," she says, jerking her chin to the side as if to tell me to take a hike.

I start to open my mouth when I catch Ben making throat-slashing motions from behind her. Closing my mouth again, I pick up my bag and wordlessly move to sit beside him instead.

"Dude! Are you out of your mind?" Ben asks me the minute I sit down.

"Why? What's so scary about this girl anyway?" I ask back, genuinely curious about his behavior. "She looks like nothing but a wannabe goth brat."

He looks over his shoulder to a guy in a UDub Football jersey and says, "See him? That's Mike Newton, the star jock of our class."

I nod, narrowing my eyes at the said jock. "What about him?"

Before Ben could answer, the professor walks into the class and calls for silence. Ben quickly tears a page off of his notebook and scribbles something on it before passing it to me.

Feeling like I am back in fifth grade with the paper-passing, my eyes fall on the paper.

 ** _He asked her for a kiss before a game for good luck, and instead she kicked him in the balls in front of the whole college._**

I can't help myself as a small chuckle escapes me at the image of small-figured Isabella Swan kicking beefed up Mike Newton in the nuts.

And at that moment, I realized I won't be able to hate the girl no matter how mean she tries to act toward me.

* * *

One week after starting my life in the new college, I find myself paired off with Isabella Swan in Physics course, Ben, my knight in shining armor mutters a soft "Guard your balls, man" before walking off to his own work bench.

It's not until I hear a small snicker that I know she has heard him. I turn to her raising an eyebrow questioningly. "What's so funny?"

She stops snickering but her lips stay upturned. "Your buddy Benny there. Either he's really worried about your balls' safekeeping or he's afraid that I'll cut _his_ off by simply looking at him."

She waits for me to acknowledge her statement and when I don't, she continues this one sided conversation,

"So which one is it?"

My eyebrows furrow together in confusion at her behavior. "If you know that guys are afraid of you, why don't you try to be little …"

"Less intimidating? Less bitchy?" She guesses.

"I was going for little more approachable," I answer.

She gives me a half-shrug. "Bitchiness keeps the assholes away. Guys find their family jewels to be rather valuable to them, I've come to realize."

"You've been pretty mean to me. And yet, I'm not afraid of you. So does that mean that I'm not an asshole?" I ask with a smirk, questioning her logic.

She chuckles lightly and reaches for the circuit we're supposed to work on. "That's something we will have to see, Edward Cullen."

The rest of the class passes by in silence, and it's not until I'm walking back to my dorm room that I realize that she called me by my name.

 _Maybe she's not as oblivious as she tries to let on._

* * *

A few days after our unofficial truce, I'm browsing through the bookshelves in search for a medicine textbook when a soft chuckle reaches me.

Sandwiched between two bookshelves, I can only peek through the small space in between the books. What I see makes my heart stutter.

There, in the secluded corner of the library sits Isabella Swan. Her legs are crossed at the ankles, and her backpack lies next to her as she sits with her back against the wall. She lets out a small chuckle again, and my eyes try to locate the source of her mirth.

Instead of finding some poor bastard being roasted on a spit like I half-expected to, I see a book in her hands. She turns the page and reads on—a small smile playing on her lips as she does.

I blink and look again. No, I'm not mistaken. Isabella Swan is smiling … a truly genuine smile, not a sarcastic bitchy one.

And in that moment, it hits me just how beautiful she is when she smiles.

* * *

"Did you see him?"

"He's like a god or something."

"More than a god; he's sex-on-legs."

High pitched giggles follow the statements. I can't help but grimace at the noise pollution as I try to focus on my assignment. Of course, the female population of UDub continues on with their giggling to break my concentration … _again_.

"Don't tell Mike I said this, but gosh it would be all kinds of sexy if Jacob Black beats him in the game," I hear Jessica Stanley, head cheerleader for UDub, say in an irritatingly nasal voice. "Did you see the way he was looking at me in the last game? I'm getting goose bumps from just thinking about it."

Rolling my eyes heavenward, I start gathering my things to move a few tables farther away from these tittering twinkle-toes when I hear a bored voice interrupt their giggle-fest. "How can you be so thick, Stanley? It's _college football_. It's a game played between two _teams_ , not two individuals. And trust me, Jacob Black isn't worth _anyone's_ time, not even yours."

The sound of her voice makes me stop and turn around to find a bored looking Isabella Swan standing across from Jessica with her arms crossed over her chest.

Jessica lets out a disgusted noise as she steps forward to confront Isabella. "What's the problem, Swan? Did you get kicked out of his bed when he found out what a frigid bitch you are? Is this a case of sour grapes?"

Something crosses Isabella's face … it's a fleeting emotion, but I catch it nonetheless. In the next second though, the bitch-brow is back in full force. It's like she wears it as a protective armor. Arching an eyebrow at Jessica, she smirks, "Didn't you know? Dung beetles don't have beds."

Jessica's mouth falls open, and Isabella starts to brush past her. However, she stops midway and turns around to say in a menacing voice, "Don't think you can shit with me just because you don't have balls. I can always cut off your silicon beanbags, which by the way are not equally portioned, and shove them down your throat." She makes a gesture toward Jessica's obviously surgically enhanced breasts before walking out of the library with her head held high.

* * *

A chuckle escapes me as I see Ben shift his feet uncomfortably. "Man, really?" he asks me for what must have been the twentieth time.

I simply give a half-shrug, not bothering to answer.

I start to count in my head. _One … two … three … four …_

"Ed, you can't be serious!" he explodes. "This is the _park_ for crying out loud! It's for _old_ people and _kiddies_. If we're seen hanging around here our reputations will be ruined.

I don't point out that beyond me and his other geek fraternity brothers, Ben doesn't have a reputation. Instead I raise an eyebrow and ask, "If none of the _cool population_ is supposed to be in here then how would they know we were here?"

He opens his mouth to argue and closes it before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Fine. Do what you feel like. I'm gonna go back to the dorm. I need to study for tomorrow's test anyway."

Giving him a mock salute, I grasp my camera in my hands and walk into the park, eager to take some pictures to send home.

Half an hour later, I'm focusing the camera on a bright blue balloon flying off to who knows where when I hear a soft sniffle coming from somewhere to my right. Letting go of the balloon, I turn and immediately recognize that shade of hair.

It's her.

For a moment I struggle with myself wondering if I should go to her or not, but when I see her wipe her eyes my decision is made.

"Hey," I call out when I'm standing right in front of her.

She doesn't look up instantly, instead, she asks in a hoarse voice, "What do you want, Cullen? Here to have some more laughs at the heinous bitch?"

I feel my eyebrows pull in a frown. "Who called you a heinous bitch?" I ask, suddenly feeling angry because no matter how rough on the edges she seems, she's not that extreme.

A humorless chuckle escapes her. "Doesn't everyone?"

"I don't," I counter promptly. "You're not as ruthless as you think you are, Isabella."

She nods and wipes off a stray teardrop that has escaped her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she asks me. "College kids don't hang around in the park."

"I'm not one of those stereotypes," I say. "I wanted to take a few pictures to send to my mom." I hold up my camera for her to see.

Something passes her eyes … a tinge of jealousy with a hint of longing as she asks me quietly, "Does she love you?"

"Of course," I answer like it's the most natural thing in the world.

"That's nice." She's silent for a moment before continuing, "I can barely remember my mom but I think she loved me too."

"Where is she?" I can guess the answer to the question before she opens her mouth. But she answers me anyway. "She died when I was ten … Cancer. I still have my dad though." Then she grimaces and adds, "That is when he's not too much occupied in his work to remember that he still has a kid."

The words leave me before I can stop myself. "Is that the reason behind why you're here? Troubles at home?"

"No."

I wait for a long moment for her to elaborate, and when I've resigned to the fact that she won't say anything else, she starts speaking. "I used to come here with my mom a lot. She liked to paint. Being here makes me feel closer to her. It's stupid to miss her after all these years, I know."

She looks down at her hands, letting her hair cover the side of her face from my eyes. In a moment of impulse, I reach out to move the hair from blocking my view. Her eyes meet mine, and I let my hand fall. Quietly, I say, "It's not stupid. It's human. I'm sorry the girls at school picked on you today."

She shrugs. "They do that sometimes. It's like a game for them, I think—To see who can step a little closer to the fire without being burned," she tells me in a sardonic tone. "That's what made me think of her and why I came here. So it's cool."

"It really is not." I shake my head. I feel her eyes on me as I continue speaking. "You shouldn't be forced to face anything like that because of their vanity. You handled it pretty well though. Now _that_ was cool."

My words make her snort and then laugh, and the next thing I know, we're both laughing together. When she stops, she smiles at me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Isabella."

"Just Bella," she says. "It's what my friends call me."

I frown at that. "I haven't heard anyone call you that."

"Because I don't have a friend." Her smile falls just a little bit.

I reach over to take her hand in mine and give it a little squeeze. "You have one now."

The smile she offers me makes me glad to be the only one to call her Bella.

* * *

"You know you could've probably said hi to Ben without trying to give him a heart attack," I say as I take a seat across from her in what has become our table in the library.

Bella smiles at me impishly. "I could have, but where's the fun in that?"

"Where indeed," I remark with a sigh.

The sound of loud giggles coming from behind me makes us stop, and I see Bella's smile turn down into a grimace as she takes in whoever it is behind me.

"Who …?" I start to turn, but she shakes her head, making me stop midway.

"Don't look. It'll just give that asshole more shit to talk about," she murmurs.

 _Who's the asshole?_ I want to ask, but I get my answer before I have to give a voice to my question.

"Well, well, well, lookie here. It seems the Perpetual Virgin has got a new boy toy to chew out," Jacob Black, the Quarterback for University of Alaska, sneers at us.

Anger grips me as I take in the way his eyes rake over Bella's frame. Trying my hardest to stay calm, I hold my hand out to her, wanting to take her as far away from this guy as possible. "Bella, let's go."

Unlike the fierce girl I've come to know in the past few months, she doesn't argue with me or try to kick him in the nuts. Instead, she grasps my hand tightly and stands up, silently tugging me away from the guy.

We hear him snickering at our retreating backs, but all I can focus on is the trembling in the fingers holding onto my hand.

When we're out of the library, I take Bella to the dorm room I share with Ben. Closing the door behind me, I finally let out the anger I felt in the library. "What the fuck is that guy's problem? Why's he even here?"

"He must be here for the game this weekend," Bella answers slowly. "I think he's been screwing Jessica behind Mike's back." After a pause, she adds, "His problem, as you asked, happens to be me."

"What did you do? Poke him with a stick?" I ask, unable to fathom why he would spew such shit about a girl he barely knew.

She's quiet for a moment before she lets out a sigh and bites her lip. "He … uh … we dated for a month back in high school," she finally says.

"What?" I'm stunned silent at her revelation.

She nods slowly. "His dad is a friend of my dad's. So we kind of hung out sometimes. I never felt too much for him, but … it was my mom's death anniversary when he asked me out, and I guess, I wanted a change so I said yes."

"What happened?"

A dry, humorless laughter bubbles up from her chest. "After a month, he wanted more … physically," she says with a grimace. "I wasn't ready. So I said no, he got mad, broke up with me and started to call me a frigid bitch."

A relieved sigh escapes me at her words. _At least he wasn't her first_ , I think to myself.

"I'm sorry," I say, because I don't know what else to tell her.

She frowns. "Why are you sorry, Edward?"

I shrug. "Because I wasn't here to protect you from that asshole?"

She smiles, a rare smile only I'm the recipient of. "You were here today. Beat him in the game this weekend and you'll be my best friend."

Rolling my eyes at her, I pull her in a hug. "I'm your only friend, Swan," I say, dropping a kiss on the top of her head.

"Then you're one lucky fucker, Cullen," she murmurs as she burrows closer to my chest.

Holding her to me does funny things to my heart. _What's happening to me?_

* * *

On the night of the Homecoming Game, I push Bella to come to cheer for me. It's not a date because I don't know if we're there yet, but I know that what I feel for her is so much more than just friendship.

Bella doesn't want to, but in the end, she begrudgingly agrees … with a threat of serious harm to my balls if we don't win.

I don't know why but seeing her in the bleachers wearing _my_ spare jersey does great things for my confidence.

During the game, my sole focus is on the field. I keep repeating in my mind that we need to win for Bella. And surprisingly, we do. When the crowd goes wild with the final blow on the whistle, I let my teammates pull me into a victory huddle. I even return the smile Mike Newton gives me because in that moment, we're a team. And besides, the guy has learned his lesson when my girl kicked him in the nuts.

"Cullen! You did it!"

The sound of her screaming my name makes me turn around. I hold my arms out to catch her as she jumps at just the right moment. She hugs me tightly repeating over and over how proud she is of me. And in that moment, I know. I know that this beautiful, crazy, impulsive girl is the one for me. I'm in love with my best friend.

I pull away from her to hold her cheek in my hand. She smiles up at me, and I want to be the impulsive one for a change. I want to take a chance and kiss her. And I think that maybe … just maybe … she feels the same.

And then Jacob fucking Black opens his mouth, ruining our moment. "Oh for fuck's sake! You opened your legs for pencil dick? Whatever, bitch, your loss."

The spark I love to see in Bella's eyes dims at his words. Her back stiffens as she starts to pull away from me. I seize her by the waist and refuse to let her go.

I see her eyes widen when I start to turn us to face Black. _This shit ends now._

"Why are you so interested in my dick, Black?" I ask, pulling a face at him. "Don't tell me you're so sour because you wanted a piece of my ass?"

"I–I …" he stutters, clearly not expecting me to fight back in this way.

I pretend to be sad as I continue. "Oh man! You should've told me before that you had a crush on me. I would've set you straight. Then you wouldn't have to be so damn bitter about my girl here," I say loud enough for everyone around us to hear. "Sorry, but I kinda like this girl I've met. So …" I shrug apologetically, making his eyes pop out comically.

"No, no, no …" he tries to protest, turning to face Mike. He grabs hold of Mike's shirt and opens his mouth. Before he can speak though, Mike untangles his shirt from Black's fingers and say, "Sorry, bud. I'm all about pussies. You're out of luck with me too."

Laughing at the comical expression on Black's face, I look down at Bella's face. There are so many questions in her eyes as she looks back at me. "Let's get out of here," I suggest.

She lets me pull her out of the madness surrounding us.

* * *

"So you like a girl, huh?" Bella asks once we're sitting inside the cab of her truck.

Closing my eyes, I curse Jacob Black for forcing me to spill the beans in front of everyone else. This is something I should've told Bella alone first. I run a hand through my hair as I answer quietly, "I do. She's amazing."

"Really? How so?"

Her question makes me look up from where my eyes were trained on the blinking clock on her dashboard, and I detect a teasing glint in her eyes.

 _Does this mean …?_

I decide to play along as I say, "She's beautiful, funny, sarcastic, and she looks fuckhot with my name on her."

"Hmm …" She looks thoughtful. "She sounds like a keeper."

"She is," I agree.

She looks into my eyes and asks, "Even if she's a crazy, heinous bitch who goes around kicking guys in the balls?"

I give her a mock-glare and say, "Watch it, Swan. That's my girl you're talking shit about. I love that she can take care of herself, even though I want to be the one to take care of her from now on."

An uncharacteristic blush heats up her cheeks as she whispers, "I think she'll like that. To be your girl, I mean."

Her assent is all I need to reach out to pull her face to mine. "My girl, my Bella," I whisper against her lips as we kiss again and again. Feeling her smile into our kiss makes me glad that I took the chance to get the girl.

* * *

My breath catches in my throat as my eyes find her. She grips the railing in a death-grip as she descends the stairs to reach me, her eyes trained on the heels adorning her feet. "You look beautiful," I say when she places her hand on my outstretched one.

She grins and looks down at herself. "I feel weird wearing a dress," she says self-consciously.

"You know that I'll be proud to have you with me even if you wore ratty old jeans and rock-band t-shirts, right?"

She laughs at my question. "I know. You're out of your mind, you know that?"

"I think, you mean head over heels," Ben bravely corrects her.

She glowers at my friend, and he swallows. "I uh … I didn't say anything," he squeaks.

"Good." she says before turning back to me. "So when are we supposed to meet your parents?"

Sensing her nervousness at meeting my parents, I pull her to my chest. "We are to make an appearance in the dance and then we'll go meet them for dinner. They'll love you, Bella."

"You don't know that," she murmurs.

 _I do, because I love you,_ I want to say, but instead, I choose to kiss her ... for now.

Dinner is, in a word, amazing.

Bella seems to get on well with my parents, and judging from the way they smile at me, I know that I was right. They adore my girl.

When we're all ready to leave the restaurant, my mom hugs Bella, whispering something in her ear. Bella's blush makes me wonder what they are talking about, but before I can ask them, my dad places a hand on my shoulder. "She's the one, isn't she, son?"

"She is," I don't hesitate when I answer.

He grins at me then. "I had the same love-sick look about me when I met your mother." He confides. "You look happy. She's good for you."

As I am about to answer him, Bella looks in my way and smiles. Smiling back at her, I answer him, "She's my everything."

Later in the night, when we're alone and standing outside her dorm room, she rises on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down to meet her lips in a deep kiss. "Thank you," she says breathlessly when we break apart.

Holding her hips in my hands, I ask, "What for?"

"For making this one of the most beautiful days of my life." She responds.

Cupping her cheeks in my hands, I place a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth and tell her,

"If you give me the chance, I'll make every day of the rest of our life beautiful for you."

"Why?"

I can't help but let the words slip out then. "Because I love you, Bella Swan. And one day, if you let me, I'm gonna make you Bella Cullen."

She gasps, and then her lips are on mine again, kissing me as though her life depends on it. After few fervent kisses, her lips move away from mine to whisper in my ear, "I might hold you to that."

* * *

"This is the sexiest thing in the world."

I snort at her words. "What? Are you gawking at my ass, baby?" I ask, shaking my butt a little as I walk back to her.

She rolls her eyes in mock exasperation. "As if. I've already had a piece of that ass, Cullen," she says. "At least a hundred times." She reaches for my hand as I take a seat next to her on the bed. "No, I was talking about this."

"My ring?"

She shakes her head. "Uh-uh. _My_ ring … on _your_ finger. That's the sexiest thing you've ever worn."

"Feeling possessive, Mrs. Cullen?" I tease her as I move her hair from her shoulder to place soft kisses on her exposed skin.

She stands up abruptly, taking me with her. With a teasing glint in her eyes, she reaches for the sash that holds her bathrobe closed around her. "When it comes to you, Mr. Cullen, I feel strangely possessive, I'm afraid." She responds as she tugs on the sash.

I let my eyes take in the beautiful woman who has become my wife just a few short hours ago. "And why is that, baby?" I ask, following her to our bed and climbing up her body.

She doesn't answer and instead rolls over so that she's straddling my hips. In a practiced motion, my hands find purchase on either side of her hips.

A groan escapes me as she sinks down on me, welcoming me inside her warmth. And then she is moving, making my eyes roll back in pleasure. I guide her movements with my hands, thrusting my hips up in exact counter-motion to hers.

Together, we chase down that fulfillment we only find in each other.

Together, we fall … deeper in love with each other.

Once we're spent, I stroke her hair as she lies spread-eagled on my chest, placing small kisses anywhere those lips of hers can reach.

"I get possessive over you because I love you," I hear her mumble against my skin.

"You really love me?" I ask, still dumbfounded that this beautiful girl loves me the way I love her.

I feel her nod against my chest before tilting her head to meet my eyes. She grins at me, kissing me sweetly before saying, "You promised me the most beautiful life, Edward, how could I not love you?"

All I can do in response is to kiss her because to me, she is what makes my life beautiful.

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 **~*~*~*The End*~*~*~**

 **A/N: So ... what do you think?**

 **Share your thoughts with me and leave a review. :)**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **Take care.**

 **Ann**


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